The HESI was created by a consortium of UN entities (UNESCO, UN-DESA, UNEP, Global Compact and UNU) in the run up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20).

In advance of the XXI Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21), HESI will organize an event to take stock of progress made since Rio+20 by sharing best practices and lessons learned, discuss the roles and responsibilities of higher education institutions in business and technological innovations around climate change adaptation and mitigation and encourage new or enhanced commitments by HESI members, particularly around the facilitation of academic and scientific inputs into the formulation of climate policies and compose a message and a set of policy recommendations to be presented to the UNFCC Secretariat at COP21.

Join and enjoy the benefits of the HESI network by committing to 1) Teach sustainable development across all disciplines of study, 2) Encourage research and dissemination of sustainable development knowledge, 3) Green campuses and Support local sustainability efforts, and 4) Engage and share information with international networks.

Contribute

In preparing for the event, UN-DESA is preparing a Progress report on the impact of Higher Education institutions in advancing sustainable development and climate change. Contributions from higher education institutions part of the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative are sought, in responding to the following questions: